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With current membership well over 1,200 students, you might not be too surprised to discover how many extraordinary people are members of the USCA. Allow us to introduce you
to five exceptional individuals
who call the co-ops home.
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Joachim spent much of his life moving from place to place—he has both Danish and American passports! As soon as he landed at Casa Zimbabwe, though, he never thought about living in another co-op. Among his 120 housemates, he’s never failed to find someone who shared his passions for Linux, race cars, maintenance and school (in order of decreasing passion).
After four years, however, Joachim’s off to continue his education back in Denmark. He’s not worried, though, because the skills he’s learned as a fix-it-upper co-oper will land him a job anywhere.
“The USCA gave me a place to live, and a job to pay for my rent. Being an independent young student, my co-op gave me the tools to live on my own, develop my skills further, while also pursuing a higher education.”
Joachim loves his co-op because... “of lots of food and flexible work schedules.”
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Irene is heading into her fifth year at UC Berkeley--she’ll be a Super Senior on her way to Nursing School. Once she gets her BSN and MSN in nursing, she plans to become a nurse practicioner in women’s health and start her own practice.
She works with other students and co-opers to coordinate a health and sexuality education group on campus for all students. Their group does community outreach, clinical counseling and campus-wide events like National Condom Day!
“I have truly learned from living in the co-ops how to share space with hundreds of people. I’ve been taught to respect and admire so many diverse groups of people who I never would have met had I not lived with them. And I’ve truly learned to appreciate a clean bathroom!”
Irene loves her co-op because... “the food is delicious and I always know where to find vegans/vegetarians/lactose-intolerants who fully appreciate massive amounts of soymilk and soy yogurt!”
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Johnny, an expert on Japanese sign language and magical realist novels, is heading in to his second year as President of the USCA Board of the Directors. During his time as commander in chief, Johnny quickly learned about the cooperative movement and non-profit management.
He calls cooperatives “the third way between capitalism and socialism.” In his experience, the challenge comes from reconciling the philosophy and idealism about co-op living with the basic day-to-day living in a co-op. However, the “natural dynamics that emerge from sharing the management of a multi-million dollar non-profit have been the most educational.”
Besides serving as President, Johnny daydreams of someday returning to Japan (where he once taught English at a nuclear power plant). He hopes to attain a teaching position teaching linguistics at a university there and take up permanent residence.
Johnny loves his co-op because... “It’s a diverse and welcoming community that also happens to look like an Ewok Village.”
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Sarah’s brings her political activism to all of her diverse interests. This summer she’s starring as Peter Pan in a production that gives the old story an educational, environmental and community-oriented twist. In her free time she’s teaching Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream to third graders at John Muir Elementary School through the Artsbridge Scholarship. As the USCA’s newly elected Vice President of External Affairs, she’s committed to increasing diversity in the co-ops–and educating the membership so it stays that way.
She remembers, “when the war in Iraq started three years ago we protested as a housing community, practiced civil disobedience together as fellow Bay Area residents, ‘placing our bodies against the gears of the machine that had become so odious’ to us, as Mario
Savio called it.”
Sarah loves her co-op because... “I come home late at night with an aching back and a grumbling tummy and the first symptoms of an oncoming panic attack and I am embraced and fed and consoled, cuddled and coddled and noodled right into a puddle.”
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Janak has single-handedly revolutionized the way our co-ops keep track of workshift hours. A year ago, his roommate was elected Workshift Manager, and Janak was astounded by the sheer amount of work keeping the workshifts organized on paper entailed. He spent the next semester writing a specialized database system for Stebbins workshifts, but realized that all co-ops could benefit from it. Currently, the workshift manangers and co-opers of five houses are using his web-based workshift database to keep track of their shifts and completed hours.
“Life in a co-op makes you part of a larger whole. I’ve always spent a lot of time programming, but now I can do it for a larger community. I’ve made a huge number of friends, and gotten involved in things I wouldn’t have otherwise gotten involved in. Most importantly, I’ve realized the importance of people working together.”
Janak loves his co-op because...“of our undefeated intramural soccer team! Oh, and Chocolate It’s It’s.”
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